30 years later, Johnny Gosch's mom still deals with the pain

"There was a night I didn't think I would live, the pain was so bad," Noreen Gosch told KCCI's Cynthia Fodor Monday.

Gosch still deals with the pain by taking action to keep the case alive, although she believes her son was a victim of human trafficking and sold to a pedophile.

Wednesday marks the 30th anniversary that Johnny Gosch disappeared from a West Des Moines neighborhood while he delivered newspapers.

"We have evidence to support that he is still alive," said Gosch.

"I think it's highly organized to take children and resell them," Gosch said. She said it's happening in every state, not just in Iowa.

Gosch is concerned now with all the reported abduction attempts here and is helping the families of the two missing Evansdale cousins create a new law that goes beyond the Johnny Gosch law and the Amber Alert.

"That was good and helped but didn't help everyone. It doesn't help those who aren't in vehicles. A lot of kids are falling through the cracks," said Gosch.

Thirty years after he son disappeared, Gosch said she remembers the nightmare just like it was yesterday.

"When you have something happen to you as devastating as a kidnapping then you need to be doing something important to protect other children. You pay it forward," said Gosch.

As the 30th anniversary of Johnny Gosch's disappearance approaches, a new photo shows what he would look like today.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created the age-progressed photo, which shows Gosch at about age 40.

Gosch was last seen delivering newspapers in West Des Moines on Sept. 5, 1982.

Gosch has freckles on his face, a gap between his front teeth, a birthmark on his left cheek and a horseshoe-shaped scar on his tongue.

He would be 42 years old now.

Anyone with information about Gosch is asked to call the Center for Missing or Exploited Children at 800-843-5678 or the West Des Moines Police Department at 515-223-3211. Authorities said calls are kept confidential and may be made anonymously.